With his fourth album amaXesha due for release on 5 May, South Africa’s Bongeziwe Mabandla takes up his position as a leader of a Black Alternative sound from Africa that’s finding an audience right across the world and staking its claim as one of the most singular music forms around.
Bongeziwe Mabandla made his debut on A Colors Show in a gorgeous mustard ensemble, magnified by a striking blue background as he delivered one of the most moving performances of his upcoming single ‘sisahleleleni (i)’ on one of the world’s biggest music stages.
Colors is a unique aesthetic music platform showcasing exceptional talented artists from around the globe, focused on promoting the most distinctive new artists and original sounds. Bongeziwe is one of a handful of South African musicians to earn a performance on the coveted channel, with previous artists including Sho Madjozi, Sjava, Yungen Blakrok and ByLwansta.
His upcoming album amaXesha, meaning “The Times”, is also the sound of the enigmatic spirit of African soul – as Mabandla is known – distilling the themes of time and compatibility within the vast fields of love. Written during South Africa’s stringent pandemic lockdown, Mabandla found the time in that isolation to introspect on the importance of connection, especially how this impulse can keep us going back to the same kind of experiences and outcomes in our love relationships. “The loops of our lives,” he calls it.
You can pre-save the album and listen to three singles released earlier in the year, ‘noba bangathini’, ‘ndikhale’ and ‘ukuthanda wena’, ahead of the full album release on the 5th of May. Listen here.
